Outlook Money Outlook Money, July 2018 | Page 53

General Insurance Made Easy The First Step Towards A Secure Future Insurance is a necessity for financial security of the family. It also serves as a building block for financial planning for life. M ost financial experts recommend investing in an insurance policy for it becomes the building block for any financial plan. Insurance is a simple concept. It is a financial arrangement where a group of people, facing a similar risk, come together and pool a small amount each. In case any of the members face a loss, the corpus collected is used to cover the same. Hence, it works as a method for distributing risk. Based on the nature of the risk being covered, the two branches of insurance are life insurance and non-life (or general) insurance. As the name suggests, life insurance addresses risks to human life, while all other types of risks get covered by general insurance. Health, disability, motor (both car and two-wheeler), travel, home, and marine are some of the most common types of general insurance plans one can avail. The importance of general insurance can be gauged from the fact that ‘Protection’ forms the base of the financial planning pyramid. This means only if one is secured against risks such as loss of property and loss of income, can he or she start to ‘Save’ or ‘Invest’ – which are the next stages in financial planning. For example, health insurance plans including Critical illness insurance, insure you against the additional cost arising out of sudden illness/ hospitalization by providing reimbursement of the medical expenses or by cashless settlement with hospitals. Group health insurance policies are also offered by insurance companies, covering the employees of Corporates. Other general insurance plans like motor, home, travel, etc., cover you against financial losses to your respective assets. Motor insurance is now mandated by the government for all motor vehicles. Over the years, financial institutions have taken up the responsibility of distributing such risks for individuals. Through an insurance policy, one can now transfer the risk to an insurance company. One such leading provider of general insurance products in the country, is The New India Assurance. It is a premier Indian multinational general insurance company with presence in 28 countries. It is the only direct insurer in India rated A-(Excellent) by AM Best, since 2007. The company has demonstrated a strong financial performance (Solvency ratio of 258%) and a robust year-on-year growth. So, go ahead and take the first step towards a secured financial future by going in for a General Insurance Product! Disclaimer This is a Media Marketing Initiative and the opinion expressed in this article is not endorsed by Outlook Money Editorial www.outlookmoney.com July 2018 Outlook Money 53